The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1887-04-20

Those who have carefully observed
the management of wild animals in
menageries, geological gardens, and in
the pens of the animal dealers, must,
at times, have been astonished at the
ease with which hired men, compare
lively unarmed, subdue beasts which
we have been taught yield only to the
blazing rifle, and fight gamely until
death. A lion escapes from his cage,
and crouches at the darkened end OF
the menagerie. Remembering the sto-
ries we have read of the ferocity of
this beast and of the terrible scenes of
the lion hunt, we can imagine only one
mode of action. The keepers should
arm themselves with rifles, hide behind
barriers, and open q rapid fire upon
him. To our surprise, they don't do
this. They simply wheel great cage
up to him, fall upon him with clubs,
and thrash away until he enters it.
Some time ago, an anaconda seven
teen feet long broke away while being
carried across public park in New
York City. With vivid pictures of the
exploits of this reptile in the Amazon
watershed before our eyes, we expect
to see him fall upon the nearest human
being, infold him in his tolls, and crush
him to jelly. Surely it will take
armed and resolute men to capture
him. No; on the contrary, this is not
required; and it must have been with a
feeling akin to disappointment that
those who had read of the ferocity of
the anaconda saw one man, armed only
with blanket, advance and seize him
by the throat, while two others, also
unarmed, grasp his tail, and then the
trio, still holding on, carry him
through the streets and thrust him
back into the den whence he had been
taken.
Not long since, the writer saw Mr..
Thomson, q dealer in animals, open a
box containing an anaconda, quite as
long as this one, take the reptile by the
throat and calmly examine its mouth,
opened though it was in rage, to look
for cancerous humors. Then, from adj
joining shelves, he took python after
python, each about ten feet long, and
examined them in like manner. Attic
place of another dealer (Reiche), big,
powerful Syrian bear, type known
for it's ferocity, was subdued without
the firing of shot. The bear broke
through iron bars half an inch thick,
and, standing up with his back against
a cage of monkeys, thrust his terrible
paws threateninglv toward three keep
ers gathered about him. He didn't
have a chance to use them, however,
for he was belabored with clubs until
glad to get back again into his cage.
On pedestal near the gate of the Gin
cinnati Geological Garden, there re-
Gently stood the stuffed figure of a
donkey which, when alive, withstood
the attack OF lion and beat him off.
The lion, it seems, had broken out of
his cage and escaped to a wood near
by. On grassy hillock adjoining, q
donkey lay stretched in placid slumber
"a slumber that was rudely disturbed
by the lion, who, in few bounds, was
upon him. When the donkey felt the
great mass of flesh descend upon him
as If from the clouds, he was stunned
and indignant, but not frightened, per-
haps because he had never read the
wonderful stories about the lion. He
quickly recovered from the blow, and,
rising, shot out both hind feet at the
same time, and caught the lion square
ly In the forehead. Badly hurt, the
lion skulked off, and later the donkey
died of the wound he received at the
onset.-Scientitic american.